We all know what a fun time is to be had when Mercury does it's back peddling thing. Communication goes awry, electronic equipment goes haywire and life just drags along as trying to achieve forward momentum becomes something akin to slogging through deep mud in heavy boots. I decided instead of focusing on the obvious negative aspects of the Mercury retrograde, I would try to take a different approach by going back into my stash of unfinished knitting projects from the past, and working on them throughout the retrograde since we know that anything started in a retrograde is only a temporary thing, there is no point in starting a new project right now. Obviously I have started a lot of knitting projects during the retrograde periods of the past because I did have a fine selection of projects to choose from. I selected a blanket that I started back in 2007. It's a beautiful vertical striped blanket made with 8 different types of yarn that are all color coordinated, with half of them being the dreaded mohair. Beautiful stuff but tricky for a beginner to work with as I recall. I can say with great assurance that this blanket will be a warm one this winter because god knows it was plenty warm sitting on my lap while I was sipping my iced drink tonight at our coffee hang out whose air conditioning was no match for the warmth of all of the wool sitting in my lap.. I'm now thinking that the light green COTTON scarf would have been a better choice to finish off but then there is the problem of figuring out what the pattern is I was using and I was short on time this afternoon.I must also insert here that if anyone sees or even senses me picking up a ball of cotton yarn by the brand name Peaches and Cream or it's counterpart, I should immediately be thrown to the floor and the yarn ball pried from my hand. Why? Because while I was digging out my old project, I came across a few more balls of the yarn to add to my BASKET full of them. What was I thinking? Wash cloths and dish towels in cool color knitting styles of course! What I was NOT thinking about was that they are not reversible, thus require either double knitting or adding a back to them making them way too thick. Back to the drawing board on that one. But I digress. ... But wait, that is after all the thing to do during a retrograde, right? Digress, regress. Ahhh, semantics. I do believe it's time for a martini. Shaken, not stirred.

Working on knitting projects for various charities is part of my crafting hobby. To save on costs I almost always use Red Heart yarn. I like the wide variety of colors they offer and the fact that the yarn is acrylic makes it a very good choice as well because most projects require the use of a machine washable yarn. When I was out shopping last week I came across Red heart Eco-Ways yarn which is a recycled blend of yarn. The color selection was limited and it was a little more expensive than the regular Red Heart, but it was still a good price. It seems to be a bit softer than the regular Red Heart yarn as well. I'm planning to use these two balls for a square with a two color pattern. I can't wait!

As winter finally reached Colorado these last couple of weeks, I hunkered down to knit by the warmth of my fireplace, flanked as usual, by my old black cat,Sam. I have discovered that I love knitting cables and showcasing a design on a tarot bag. The bags are fun to design. I love the primitive look of them. I am now working on one that I hope will become my Dancing Irish Fairy bag. We shall see what the fairy folk have in mind as the piece progresses. :)

Since my last posting I have opened up a shop on Etsy called Toad Werks. I have branched off from my knitting a bit and into some sewn items and different types of prayer beads. My shop is an off shoot of my main business which is tarot readings. I am not an expert crafter, but I do enjoy doing crafty things and thought it might be fun to put some items up for sale; particularly tarot related things. I like to use tarot cloths because they protect my cards and because they are so much fun. Even more fun is to match them to the different decks I have. I find that expressing my creativity, the natural outlet for a magical life. Cheers!